Hank Azaria brings Bruce Springsteen tribute to Orlando

Hank Azaria’s Voice -over work on “The Simpsons” won him four Emmy Awards, but even they couldn’t compare with his idol, Bruce Springsteen.

“I met Bruce twice and ashamed by raving about him and telling him how much he meant for me,” says the actor when he remembers her first encounter: “My voice went up like four octaves. I sounded like a goose on acid and was basically incomprehensible. He gave me a fatherly folding on the shoulder to say: “Calm down.”

What about the second time?

“I said I won’t blow it this time and …” Azaria leads to laugh. “He was very cute and patient with me; He gave me fatherly on my shoulder and was gone. “

Azaria becomes his homage to Springsteen – a play in which the man of many voices imitated his idol with a backing band – imitated on Orlandos Plaza live on February 6th.

He evaluates the show for the most fulfilling work he has done, with “The Simpsons”, “Spamalot” on Broadway, the film “The Birdcage” and the Edgy sitcom “Brockmire”. The performance collects money for the charity organization Azaria, the 4 to 9 foundation, which invests in education and well-being for young people.

“I would make myself strange to imitate my idol and earn money with it,” he says that he makes the show a non -profit undertaking.

The show is a legitimate concert with an equally legitimate band, the EZ Street Band, which consists of musicians who have played with Ariana Grande, Post Malone, Lil Nas X, St. Lucia, Josh Groban, Blackbear and Cynthia Erivo.

But it is also a performance piece in which Azaria tells stories about what Springsteen’s music meant for him.

“I tell the story of the night when I met my wife, who at first glance was love,” he offers as an example.

His jumping steen is based on the hero worship. Azaria says.

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“His music meant a lot to me, brought me through a few hard, lonely times as a teenager,” he says. It also inspired him as a “creative person”.

Can he select favorites from Springsteen’s large oeuvre?

“Those who had the greatest influence on me,” he says and hesitates before “the promised country”, “Thunder Road”, “she is one” and “Jungleland”. “You are part of me; They are times of my life. “

The show started with a Wallop of the birthday anxiety.

“I turned 60 last April and wanted to cheer up because I had mixed feelings for this number,” he says. “You turn 60, you become nostalgic and music is a large part of it. I rediscovered the music of my youth, Bruce was at the top of this list. “

He surprised friends at a party with his reproduction of Springsteen.

“I haven’t had sick since the beginning of my career,” he says of the preparation. “I was so nervous that I handed myself over.”

To put together the EZ Street Band, he advised Adam Kromalow, piano teacher of Azaria’s youthful son. He remembers Kromalow: “I had this crazy idea … it is a kind of strange crisis after the midlife.” But the pianist was on board.

Then there was the singing, for which Azaria is not known.

“If you sing Wiggum as a boss, it doesn’t take care of anyone as long as you do the lyrics right and stay half onkee,” he jokes a dark police officer in terms of one of his “Simpsons”.

And although he had imitated Springste’s voice all his life-he interrupts his thoughts to give a reporter a spontaneous over-the-phone demonstration-he had never tried to imitate his singing voice. Even for a professional like Azaria, it took months of work and coaching to do it right.

Of course he already had a lot of research on his belt; Azaria estimates that he has reached Springsteen about 30 times.

“I’ve gone since I was 16,” he says. “His live shows are legendary. He pulls out surprises every evening. In the past, he would play four or four and a half hours. “

He thinks about what has repeatedly withdrawn him.

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“I think Bruce, more than many artists, paints a picture in your head,” he says. “Seeing him live is something special.”

After the Springsteen has been put into operation, Azaria has time to juggle her with its other projects. He writes a book and also develops a live stage show that immerses in the “Apu controversy”.

In addition to Chief Wiggum, Azaria has spoke “Simpsons” characters such as bartender Moe, headmaster Gary Chalmers, The Comic Guy and Country Bumpkin Cletus since 1989. In 2020 he stopped expressing Apu, a friendly, if often overwhelmed Indian Convenience Store Manager.

“There are many voices,” he says of the new show, “and you will notice that there is a voice that I don’t do, and here is the reason.”

The controversy was heated by a documentary from 2017 “The Problem with APU”, in which the stereotypical aspects of the character were examined, and examined how a white actor felt annoyed and humiliated to Indian Americans. Azaria later apologized for the maintenance of the racial stereotypes.

“It is a story that is valuable for people, especially to hear white, which may not have thought about what I was certainly,” he says. “It is a window in an important topic called Race in America. The ability to see the view of others is usually lost in these situations. “

He is looking forward to bringing this show on stage because he enjoys the energy of an audience – something that he does not experience when taking up his lines for “The Simpsons”.

“When I made Spamalot on Broadway, it was really huge,” he says of the show based on the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” from 1975. “With all the Monty Python fans you felt this love.”

Azaria plans to stick to projects such as the Springsteen tribute that is important to him.

“I’m really trying to choose,” he says. “I feel really blessed and happy that I can concentrate on things that are really important to me.”

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Hank Azaria and the EZ Street Band

• When: 8 p.m. February 6th February
• Where: The Plaza Live, 425 N. Bumby Ave. in Orlando
• Cost: 24- $ 50
• Info: Plazaliveorlando.org

Originally published: January 27, 2025 at 5:00 a.m. EST